Domestic violence against women of Japanese descent in Los Angeles: Two methods of estimating prevalence

Abstract

Using a more inclusive, culturally responsive measure, this population-based study of women of Japanese descent contrasts two methods of estimating prevalence of domestic violence. Eighty percent of respondents reported experiencing a male partner's violence during their lifetimes - a conventional estimation. A new method took into account the respondent's perceptions about the partner's acts - whether she considered her partner's behavior abusive and placed it within the context of an abusive relationship - and yielded the lifetime prevalence of 61%. Attention to culturally based manifestations of domestic violence and the respondent's perceptions provide additional dimensions of data grounded in women's subjective experiences.